You say both:
> Why hire them because they cant recite the LP, because they get
And:
> a parrot can answer this question.

As an IB school interviewing a candidate that has taught IB, I'd like them to be slightly more intelligent than a parrot, so if they wouldn't know them it would be a red flag. Anyway, they only need to know a few to give examples and answer the question.
Also, if you have taught IB and can't use two ATLs or Learner Profile traits in an example of how you translate IB theory into classroom practice, you will probably get lost on your way to school.


> Again its just your claim that this is a normal question and non-douchey
> because you claim it to be so.

> which your assumptions are not self authenticating.

Hmmm, that's exactly what you're doing... You're just claiming the opposite "(it's a douchey question"), based all on assumptions and not facts.


> > No more than your claim that the two forms of questions we are debating are
> slightly more specific, because you say they are,

How is it not more specific?
One zooms in on ATLs rather than the whole IB theory, the other zooms in on Learner Profile traits. That makes it more specific.


If an IB schools wants to know how an experienced IB teachers translates IB theory into classroom practice, that's a very valid question.
Assuming they just want you to parrot list is not based in fact. If that is their true intention behind asking the question, then yes, they are douches, but then they could just ask you to list them all. Your hunch that the real question is a different one is merely a guess. I read the question as it is presented.

Have someone else have a look at your cover letter and CV, and ask for feedback. I've read some awful cover letters by superstar teachers, and some CV's look like they were made by a 12 year-old with artistic aspirations.
Your Associate should be able to help you with this (and mine did a few years ago), but I've heard not all Associates are equally helpful, so if yours isn't, ask others (colleagues, perhaps the person who recruited you at your current school) for some pointers.

Also, lots of top schools get so many applications, that there must be loads of great teachers that aren't shortlisted there. You might just be one of them.

Agree with @Thames Pirate and @Illiane_Blues, the Search fair would be the better choice of the two.


PsyGuy wrote:
> SA has about twice as many top tier ISs at BKK, but SA has three times the
> ISs total. Both fairs are about the same length, and with much smaller
> number of candidates your more likely to get an actual interview slot for
> those ISs. The math says ISSs has the better probability.

ISS has 6-7 top tier schools, out of a total of 223 schools attending (although the QSI schools will probably be represented by one delegation).
Search has 23-24 top tier schools, out of 142 schools attending.
So no, SA does not have 'three times the ISs total', and at ISS only (rounded up) 3% of the schools is top tier, while at ISS (rounded down) 16% of the schools is top tier. Even with fewer people attending (assuming that's correct, probably is) I'd like my chances better at the Search fair, unless they have more than 5 times as many candidates attending than the ISS fair (and I assume that number is closer to 2).


But the above is assuming you prefer a top tier school. If you prefer a tier 2 or tier 3 school (and there are plenty of great tier 2 schools), ISS might be the better choice, although the tier 1 schools will be heavily ambushed at the Search fair, so the tier 2 schools there might be very happy to interview anyone that shows up at their booth.

Anyway, just go them both, as others have also advised, that's by far the best option. The extra money and time is worth it to be able to cast a wider net. Plus after that you'll be able to compare the ISS and Search fairs a lot better for future reference. Be sure to report back if you do to share your experiences at both fairs and compare them for us.

P.S.
Some of the schools I'm referring to are top tier, and will be very hard to get into due to stiff competition, but not all schools are so highly sought after so then your chances are better, and all are worth a try at least – I've seen some strange hires at top schools.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: Agree with PsyGuy

Tanzania: IS of Tanganyika in Dar-es-Salaam would accommodate your savings goal without a problem. One of the best schools in Africa on top of that. Dar-es-Salaam isn't the greatest city, but the part the school is in is ok.

Indonesia: The two schools that would allow you to save enough are in Jakarta, and you'll have to expose your kid to pretty bad air quality.

Malaysia: Agree with PsyGuy. At least two schools there that would let you save enough easily.

Bangladesh: There's one school where you can easily save what you need (good school as well), a second one where you might be able to, but as PsyGuy says, Dhaka is a very unattractive and dirty city, not the best option with a kid.

India: At least three schools there that would let you save enough easily, but all are in cities with terrible air quality.

Cambodia: There's one school where you can easily save what you need, and it's a solid school. Phnom Penh isn't a great city, but there are worst places.

Vietnam: There's one school where you can easily save what you need, but the city it's in (the capital) has really terrible air quality, as nice as it is apart from that.

Have a look at Myanmar (one school only that I would recommend and would fit your needs), Taiwan (two good schools in Taipei, great city), Philipines (two good schools, but city is crap) or Thailand (few schools that would fit, although perhaps too competitive). If you don't mind not going out much, Pakistan would have a few schools where you can easily save enough cash, and they're good schools, but most cities are not extremely safe).

Good luck!

I was once advised by a colleague to video some of my classes, to use in the hiring process, but I can't image recruiters taking the time to watch these videos. Or would they?

Any input?

@PsyGuy

> Lots of IB ITs cant rattle off all the LPs, lots of MYP ITs barely know hat
> the MYP is much less what the ATLs are.

Most can, but if they can't list a few (you'd need about two to answer the question), why hire them at a serious IB school, as any teacher with IB experience and a brain would be able to list at least half of them, if not all? I don't think the question is meant to quiz the candidate to see if they can list them all, but if they don't know any, that would be a serious red flag if they say they worked at an IB school. That's not to say the question is meant to elicit both complete lists.

> No its not slightly more specific, is substituting a non-douchey question
> that focuses on terminology for a douchey one that does.
> You can assume anything about recruiters and leadership its why its called
> an assumption. The recruiter leadership that asks this douchey question is
> impressed by IB vocabulary.

Yes, you can assume, but that doesn't make it true. It's a valid question if there's no hidden intention like wanting the candidate listing all of ATLs and IB learner profile traits, and I'm simply judging the question based on what is actually asked, which is how they translate IB theory (ATLs, LP traits) in classroom practice (for their use of the IB-terms in their question: read my previous paragraph). Assuming the recruiter simply wants to hear IB jargon is a guess, and in my opinion and experience a poor one.


@Thames Pirate

> Those things, while explicitly stated or
> codified in the IB theory, are also just solid practice and should have
> already come up at the interview

Yes, but perhaps it hadn't, perhaps they were at the start of the interview, and perhaps they wanted to know more. We weren't at the interview, so can't say the question wouldn't produce any new information about the candidate that hasn't been covered already.

> So yes, it's "do you buy IB theory,"

Why? The candidate already teaches IB, so it's a normal question using terms the candidate is already familiar with (or should be). There would be better questions to find out how many IB terms the candidate knows, if that was their intend.

> is just good teaching, it's not a question unique to IB beyond the jargon.

Agreed, but it's also part of IB, so valid to ask about within IB-context.

> , and do you actually practice it"

Yes, that's the reason they ask the question, to see if you can bring IB theory into classroom practice. Relevant to know for an IB school.

I might also enrol if I can free up some time, but just for the pay bump. And some schools like a Masters on your CV (sometimes for the wrong reasons), so it makes me a bit more desirable for future schools, regardless of which one it is (except if it's for a leadership positions, as PsyGuy says).

'ATLs' and 'IB learner profile traits' are such basic IB-terms that only teachers with no IB-experience at all wouldn't know them (and the interviewer probably uses them so often they might not even realise anymore that these could be considered jargon), and since the candidate would have IB-experience, it's basically asking the same question as "Give us an example how you might translate IB-theory into classroom practice", just slightly more specific.

Furthermore, you can't assume anything about the interviewer's motives. I hope (and suspect) most won't be nearly as impressed by any candidate's use of IB terminology, as by their actual example of how they translation of IB-theory into classroom practice. My experience with interviewers is that they aren't, but perhaps you've had a few douchey interviewers in the past.

The question also isn't how many ATLs and LP traits the IT can recite from memory, as an answer will typically have two or three examples of how some are translated into classroom practice, just as the question 'Tell us about yourself' doesn't mean they want to hear every detail about your childhood traumas.
If the interviewer would follow your examples by asking to name the remaining ATLs/traits, yes, then they just want to hear you recite them (and they would indeed be bad interviewers), but we can't assume they will (or won't).

So it can simply be a valid question to determine if you're able to translate IB-theory into classroom practice. You can hardly fault them for using the (widely known) terms 'ATLs' and 'IB learner profile traits' to make the question slightly more specific.

I'd say it's perfectly normal for an IB school to want to know how you translate IB-theory into classroom practice.
I wouldn't necessarily agree with @Thames Pirate that the real objective of the question would always be to find out if you know all of them (if it is, then it is indeed a douchey question), but rather how you use these IB values/approaches, and that's a relevant question for a school that wants their teachers to teach IB in a proper way.

Terminology/jargon can be used just to communicate quicker and/or more effectively, just like jargon is used in other professions, and obviously you'll hear IB terms being used at an IB school. And when someone talks about IB curriculum a lot, it's not hard to imagine they might forget that not everyone is as familiar with the terms as they are – the same happens on this forums where some members use way too many acronyms that not everyone is familiar with.
But when someone uses it (IB terminology or acronyms) to 'impress' others, then they're being pricks. If not, they're just communicating, or at least trying to with no ill intend.

Doctor wrote:
> Can you suggest some answers for my stack of index cars?

It's not a question with one answer, like asking what the capital of Uzbekistan is (Tashkent), so your answer should reflect how you teach.

Pro-tip for dealing with unexpected questions:
If you teach yourself to throw up at will, you'll always have a way of getting out of a tough question.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @Doctor
>
> Those were douche questions from someone who drank their IB koolaid that
> morning instead of coffee/tea.

Perfectly valid questions for an IB school, while I agree with @chilagringa that MYP needs lots of improvements.

@sid

Asking for myself:
Which regions would that be at the moment?

Following, as I'm in a very similar situation.

Re 2b ('alternatively'):
Only one of the schools I've worked at had foreign hires at the PR department, and that was in a city with lots of expats and with a very competitive market for ISs, so all of the top schools there had relatively big PR departments to keep enrolment up.

For an article I'm writing (and for whenever I'll be moving on in the future), can I have your input on one, some or all of the following questions:

1. What are the questions you get asked most, in almost every job interview as an international teacher?
2. What's the best question you've been asked by a school's recruiter during a job interview?
3. What's the worst or weirdest question asked?
4. What question would you ask if you were a recruiter?

And often overlooked:

5. And what questions should an IT ask the school during the interview?

Thanks in advance!